Wes Welker said he's still "a long ways off" from his 2009 form.
Patriots Wes Welker has made a remarkable return from a major knee injury at the end of the 2009 season, but admitted he’s not back to 100% quite yet.
“I still feel like I’m a long ways off from that personally,” Welker said to the Boston Globe, comparing his form this year to his 123-catch year in 2009. “People say it looks the same. I don’t feel the same. So I’m not gonna put a number on myself.
Welker re-joined the Patriots a mere 6 months after tearing both the ACL and MCL in his left knee in the first quarter of the team’s Week 17 loss to Houston. The 29-year-old endured a grueling rehab and ended up missing only three days of training camp, one preseason game, and looks set to start in New England’s Week 1 meeting with the Bengals.
“My deal is going out there and playing as hard as I can every single play, and just trying to do my job,” said Welker, who finished the preseason with 5 catches for 75 yards in 3 games. “Whatever it is at the end is what it is, and we’re gonna just go out and try to win games.”
Although Welker, who had a team high 1,348 yards and 5 TDs last year, knew he’d be hard-pressed to put up the same kind of numbers, he said his main goal was to simply be back with his teammates as soon as he could.
“I just wanted to get back as early as possible, whenever that was,” he said. “We’re getting closer to the season now, and hopefully we’re gonna be good to go.”
Welker added that the he and the team never formally set a return date for him, saying they discussed some “different things”. There was one thing the 6-year vet was firm on: there was no way he was going to be placed on the Players Unable to Perform list, which would force him to sit out 6 games.
“For me, it was never a question. I wasn’t gonna sit out. It’s just not in me. I can’t do it.”